An outstanding three-year varsity career is soon coming to an end for Reavis’ Brandon Wilke.

The senior middle hitter took up volleyball as a sophomore. Almost in the blink of an eye, the ride is going to be over as he plans on learning a trade rather than going to college to play sports.

“At first, in the middle of my senior year, I really wanted to play college,” Wilke said. “But I’ll probably go into the trades and be an iron worker and rack in the money, you know?”

Wilke was a money player Tuesday — and an Iron Man — during one of the Rams’ biggest matches of the season. He tallied seven kills, three block assists, a solo block and two aces for a 25-18, 25-18 win over Argo in a battle of South Suburban Conference unbeatens in Summit.

Pawel Greczek added seven kills, including six in the second game, and Jozef Walus had five kills, two solo blocks and two block assists for Reavis (27-2, 10-0), which is seeking its third straight conference title with two matches to go.

Sebastian Pardol put away nine kills and Christian Zubek had seven for the Argonauts (22-8, 9-1), who held a 22-19 kill advantage but gave up 18 points on hitting or serving errors, with 12 coming in the first game.

Wilke, meanwhile, was a force to reckoned with in the middle for Reavis coach Mike Jebens.

“When he’s on, he’s the X-factor,” Jebens said of Wilke. “Pawel and Jozef are on teams’ scouting reports because we are an outside-heavy team, absolutely. But when he’s on, he’s unstoppable.”

Jebens also has been impressed by Wilke’s ability to pick up the game so quickly.

“Brandon is one of those natural hitters where you teach him something once and it’s very smooth and it flows,” Jebens said. “I told him before the game, ‘You might be the X-factor.’“And I think he was.”

Wilke confirmed he was motivated for this big conference matchup and perhaps was a little too amped up. He received a yellow card early for yelling at the Argonauts after a kill.

“I got a little yellow card and it is what it is,” Wilke said. “You have to talk a little sometimes.”

Wilke said Walus coaxed him into trying out for the volleyball as a sophomore.

“I gave it a shot and I loved the sport,” Wilke said. “My freshman and sophomore year, I played football, but I didn’t enjoy that sport as much.”

Greczek has enjoyed watching Wilke go to work in the middle.

“He can bounce balls, he’s a great blocker — he’s amazing,” Greczek said of Wilke. “I think we’re all very good. He’s really good.”

Although Reavis lost to Lyons and Homewood-Flossmoor this season. the Rams avenged the setback to H-F setback later in the spring.

Reavis has not dropped a conference match since 2022 and now owns the program record for most wins in a season.

“I love my team,” Wilke said. “These guys are all like older and little brothers to me. A lot of us our seniors and it’s going to be a tough goodbye, but in and out of class with them has been amazing.”

The Rams are hoping to bring home some postseason hardware.

Some of them have some championship experience as a team that featured Wilke and a few of his volleyball teammates that won the school’s dodgeball tournament title.

So, is it harder to nail down a big kill or dodge a ball?

“It’s harder to dodge a ball,” Wilke said. “That’s crazy because you are not expecting it and the ball comes out of nowhere.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.